


An Awoken Tale

by geometrix



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Cabal, Destiny, Fallen, Hive, LMAO, Plot Twists, Rescue Mission, Teamwork, The Tower - Freeform, Vault of Glass, Vex - Freeform, destiny au, last city, michael is insecure, mission, prison of elders, rt destiny au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-18 14:34:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4709540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geometrix/pseuds/geometrix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When one of the legendary guardians, Jeremy Dooley, doesn't return from a bounty mission, the guardians back on Earth go crazy. How could one of the most talented guardians out there become Missing in Action? Where is his Ghost? Why does no one know what's happening? A special fireteam of the best guardians is put together, and they soon find that all does not meet the eye: Jeremy has been kidnapped, a hefty ransom on his head. But paying it won't solve the issue. At least, not according the mysterious Awoken stranger 'Gavin' who has just showed up on Earth...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Team of Legends

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is a fic I've had planned for ages and I finally decided to go forward with it. Whereas with my last fanfictions, I've written the entire thing before uploading any, this time I'm going to upload chapter by chapter. This is because I'm starting university in a couple of weeks, and I don't want to have to wait for, like, a year to be able to upload anything. (It won't take a year, I promise<3)

There were a lot of guardians that roamed the Tower and protected the Light, wielding power against the Darkness and doing what they could to keep humanity going. Most guardians were exceptionally talented. It was a role not taken lightly, and only the best of the best got accepted into the corps. But when there were so many at any one time, just being 'talented' was never enough. You had to be amazing to have your name remembered, even more to be a legend around the place.

Legendary guardians were a godsend for the Tower. Children living in the Last City would see the glory and praise surrounding them, and grew up telling their parents that they wanted to be a guardian when they were older. They wanted to be just like all the legends their friends spoke about. One day that would be them!

They carried such prestige, that no one could possibly imagine what it would be like for anything to happen to one. And then it did.

Of all the legendary guardians, Jeremy Dooley was probably the youngest. The others had been around much longer, achieved amazing things, were the ultimate guardians. But the difference with Jeremy is that he didn't play by the Tower's rules. As a teenager he'd joined the academy to train and learn to be a guardian. He'd displayed outstanding skill in all areas and was awarded his guardianship after graduating. But he'd decided that doing what everyone else was doing really wasn't for him. Instead of accepting briefs and mission statements from the Vanguard, he'd make frequent visits to Xander 99-40, collecting every bounty he could get his hands on. He became so engrossed in bounty hunting that he would find himself sneaking to the top of the Tower at midnight just to get his hands on the new orders of the day. Bounties drove Jeremy like regular missions could not. It wasn't about fighting the Darkness to save the Traveller: it was about scoring points. And damn, was Jeremy good at it.

Usually, the Tower would not be happy with guardians deliberately rejecting their assigned jobs. First the Vanguard would send you warnings, then they'd see you in person, and then if you still continued to abuse the system, the Speaker himself would be visiting you in person. And then things really wouldn't look good for you.

But this never happened for Jeremy. He was so good at what he did, he'd be returning multiple bounties every evening, barely a sweat on his brow or a bullet missing from his magazine. So there were rarely ever any complaints. Whether or not fighting for the Traveller was his intention, he was doing it through his bounties. And so the Tower didn't really care. Every time he returned from a big bounty, guardians would surround him on the forecourt of the Tower, begging for the details of his latest trek. Photos would circulate of him with his latest kills. The most famous one: him standing over the mangled body of a dead Colossus.

It was mandatory for any guardians hunting bounties to set a return target. This meant that if a guardian wasn't back to the Tower by their target, officials would start to organise sending out a search party. Bounties were less controlled than regular missions, and so the risk factor was higher. It was important that the Tower knew that its guardians were safe.

Jeremy would always make sure his Ghost sent back messages to Xander 99-40 to prove his safety, particularly on the more dangerous bounties he undertook. He already knew he wasn't playing by the Tower's rules – he wasn't going to push them any more than he already had.

But when he went out on a bounty and messages from his Ghost stopped, it became official: Jeremy was missing in action.

Due to his fame and high stature, many guardians offered themselves to go and look for him. His MIA status had caused uproar. No one wanted to believe that one of the most highly esteemed guardians was gone. The Tower officials refused every offer that came their way, and any guardian who wasn't out on a mission was immediately put on Tower arrest. There was no breaking orbit by anyone without the correct authority. A decision had to be made. Guardians had been killed in combat before, but Ghosts were designed to let the Tower know when that had happened. There was no sign of Jeremy's Ghost anywhere.

The Speaker called for an urgent meeting with tower officials to be held in order to decide what to do. An official expected time for the meeting to end was put out, but much to the frustration of all the guardians who wanted to help, it was delayed. After hours of waiting past the deadline, the Speaker finally came out into the Tower Watch, ready to address the gathered crowd.

'A decision has been made,' he said, his whispered husk washing across the congregation. After a moment's pause, he continued. 'A search party will be formed to look for the missing guardian.' There was a wave of mumbling as guardians excitedly shared their hopes that they would be picked. Before the noise could get too loud, the crowd was silenced by the Speaker's voice once more. 'Those who will join this party have already been selected. Guardians chosen will receive the notice of such a decision at the Postmaster. Once you have received your notice, please make your way to the Tower North and see me in my office.'

With that, the Speaker turned and headed back into the Tower North, the Vanguards and other officials in his wake. Guardians down in the Watch started pushing and shoving, eager to make it to the Postmaster to find out if they had been the ones selected. Some of the less over-excited guardians pulled back their enthusiastic counterparts, reminding them that unless their Ghost had told them of any pending messages, they were only in for disappointment.

When the crowd had settled down a bit, with many of the guardians realising that they hadn't been chosen for this mission, the actual chosen guardians began to step forward. The first came as no surprise to anyone, and the guardian in question in fact had such a high reputation, that the crowd split in order to make it easier for him to reach the Postmaster. Ryan Haywood had been one of the first guardians, and even after all this time, was still one of, if not  _the,_ best. Every time a hard mission was undertaken, or a specific enemy was to be tracked down, you could guarantee it was Ryan whose name would be on everyone's lips on the return. As the years had gone by, and more and more guardians came to be, Ryan's name became a household name. He was famous. From stories of when he was a young Striker Titan killing his first Dregs, to the majestic tale of his slaughtering of Valus Tu'aurc on Mars, everyone knew him.

He never walked with any air of self-importance, and the same went for when he picked up his notice from the Postmaster. The guardians closest to him fell speechless, just taking in the sight of possibly the most legendary guardian out there. Ryan gave a small smile to some of them, before continuing on towards the Tower North. As he walked away, the crowd's voices began to rise once more, eagerly trying to guess who was next to pick up their notice. No longer were people desperate for it to be them – now they just wanted to know who was next to walk the red carpet.

The next two guardians came together. The first was well known, but not quite as famous as Ryan. Geoff Ramsey was a lot different from Ryan, and yet his success was on the same level. He was known for being laid-back, yet exceptionally talented, and his achievements in the Summoning Pits had never once gone unnoticed. He had always been singled out about having a successful future ahead of him; some argued he'd be training the best Warlocks of the future, but others went as far as predicting that one day he'd replace Ikora Rey as the Warlock Vanguard.

The guardian who was with him had been one of Geoff's protégées: Jack Pattillo. He'd grown up to be a successful Warlock, although, unlike his former teacher, had taken the Sunsinger path, rather than be a Voidwalker. He displayed immense skill, but most of those who'd trained or worked with him would argue that most of his success had been garnered mostly from hard work as opposed to raw talent. As the years had gone by, Jack had realised that he didn't enjoy staying around in the Last City, waiting for a mission to come up, and so had moved away from the Tower, living out in the field, primarily patrolling Earth and Mars. He'd only returned upon hearing the news about Jeremy, but it was definitely nice for him to be reunited with his old teacher. Especially now knowing they were going on a rescue mission together.

'Can't believe I'm doing this,' Geoff said to himself, reluctantly taking the notice from the Postmaster and folding it carelessly in his hands. He didn't even bother to look at it. He didn't want to.

'You don't have to, y'know, Geoff. You could just stay here,' Jack said sympathetically. He knew why this was going to be hard for Geoff, and as much as he'd have loved to have worked with him after all these years, he'd rather Geoff made sure he looked after himself.

'No, I'll do it,' he said, leading Jack away from the crowd and towards the Tower North. 'It's just, I don't know, it's been a long time.'

Many of the guardians in the crowd were shocked to have seen Jack and Geoff walk up to the Postmaster. Most of them didn't really know who Jack was, but pretty much all of them knew who Geoff was. And to see him go up and accept a mission like this? It was something that was hard to imagine.

But the ponderings about Geoff's involvement in the mission soon came to an end as people's attention shifted to the last guardian who came up to claim his notice. There was no way of missing him: the specific exotic armour, the youthfulness still alive in his face, the glowing yellow eyes and pale blue skin of Michael Jones.

This was a guardian who started to rise to popularity and fame not too long before. He was a young Striker Titan, and had come to public attention after his amazing talents for brutality and attack skills started to be recognised. For ages, most people believed that Michael had been trained under none other than The Ryan Haywood, but when asked, he would always answer with the truth: he'd never met Ryan before.

Young guardians looked up to him, and it was clear that he felt very honoured being requested for this rescue mission. He'd left himself until last because he wanted to seem humble; there was no way Michael wanted to appear cocky in front of this massive crowd of people who'd so desperately wanted a spot on this team. He was literally about to accept a position working with the most famous, most talented guardians the Last City had ever seen. No, he didn't want to be an ass about it.

As he took his notice and began towards the Tower North, he couldn't help a smile from falling across his lips. For as long as he could remember, Michael had been dreadfully insecure. It was all well and good being an amazing Titan, but that didn't say anything about him as a person. It didn't validate any worth that he, as Michael Jones, might have.

The thing was, the Last City, and the Tower, was full of Humans. Humans and Exos. They were everywhere, and of course, Michael didn't have a problem with that, but it was just... There was no one like him. When he was a child, living alone with his mother down in the Last City, he used to ask her why his skin glowed blue and the other children's didn't. He'd always felt the odd one out.  But as he'd learned, it was because he was an Awoken. Well, not completely – his mother was Human as can be. It was his father who was an Awoken, a race of people with glowing blue skin and piercing yellow eyes who came from the Reef, outside of Venus. But Michael had never known him, and whenever he'd ask his mother why they lived on Earth instead of on the Reef, she'd always avert the question.

It had left such a hole in Michael's heart. Not only was he completely singled out here on Earth, where his friends' skin colours splashed across a spectrum of brown, but he had no connection to his place of origin either. And growing up with that knowledge made him a very lonely boy, and a very lonely man. For so long he'd felt second to the Humans and Exos that dominated the Tower, even though he himself had gained a serious popularity here. He just felt like something was missing.

But this! He was being trusted with a very serious rescue mission. It was all okay being asked to go on a regular mission, the aim of which was always to end an enemy or two. But this was a mission that involved a fellow guardian. Michael was being trusted to be part of the team that would save another Human's life. And that meant a lot to him.

By the time he made it up to the Speaker's office in the Tower North, the other team members were waiting for him. Michael suddenly felt very small in comparison to the legends he was standing next to, but the way the Speaker looked at each of them was almost as if they were all legends in his eyes.

'Guardians,' he said proudly and sternly. 'Thank you for accepting this mission. As you know, it has taken the Tower a while to come to a conclusion about how best to solve this issue. We have some limited information which will be of benefit to you.'

The guardians looked at each other, not having expected there to be inside information that hadn't been made public.

'We know that Jeremy has been kidnapped by the Cabal on Mars. They demanded a ransom.'

There was a momentary silence, followed by: 'And you're not going to just pay it?' Ryan said. His outspokenness took Michael by surprise, and he prepared himself to hear Ryan get chastised, but the Speaker didn't seem to mind. Apparently, when you were as experienced and famous as Ryan was, it didn't really matter how you spoke to people.

'We were going to,' the Speaker said, a sigh in his voice, as if to say, 'If only things were that easy.' Ryan nodded slightly in acknowledgement. 'But we've had outside information.'

This bit took the guardians by surprise, not least by Geoff, who narrowed his eyes slightly. 'What do you mean?'

'Well,' the Speaker said, stepping back slightly from the guardians. 'That brings me to my next point. It won't just be you four going alone. There is a fifth member to your fireteam.'

The four looked at each other, confusion on all of their faces. If there was a fifth, why hadn't they been given a notice – why hadn't they had to endure the crowd cheering and theorising and sensationalising their jobs?

It took them a few moments to notice at first, as they'd spent too much attention on their own confused thoughts, but soon they were all staring at the staircase as they watched the new figure ascend it. Whoever he was, he was wearing amazing gear: exotics that even Ryan hadn't seen before, his Mantle of Gheleon Hunter cloak a deep blue from his shader. Behind him they could see an Icebreaker sniper rifle hung graciously on his back. Michael could feel his heartbeat increase as he spotted the familiar glowing blue colour of the stranger's skin beneath his hood.

And as he began to lift it away from his face to reveal his glowing yellow eyes and self-important smirk, the Speaker once more addressed the fireteam in front of him: 'Guardians, allow me to introduce you to your fifth member, Gavin Free.'

 


	2. Breaking Orbit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings, feelings everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is a-go! I was a total idiot and planned this chapter out.. and then left the planning at my mum's house when I was writing at my dad's. I'm excited to get on to the next part! Let me know what you think in the comments.

The team stood there in silence for a few seconds before doing anything. It was a very confusing situation – the four of them had been chosen specifically because of their status and talent known universally in the Tower. But none of them knew who this guy was. The Speaker had just introduced him. But he was wearing gear that could only be owned by a guardian with immense skill, and carrying weapons that some people could only dream of having. Not only that but... He was an Awoken. And it's not that anyone in the team was racist, or anything, but... Awokens weren't exactly common around the Last City.

'Hello, Fireteam,' Gavin said. His accent wasn't like anyone else at the Tower's. It was smoother and more defined, like an accent that perhaps might have existed on Earth long ago, way before the Collapse.

Michael's feeling of solidarity with Gavin took a tumble; he didn't sound like Gavin. He had a normal Last City accent, and suddenly he felt even more separate from his origins than he already did.

'Gavin trained at the Academy long ago,' the Speaker said, as if telepathically knowing the others' confusion. 'Back then it was even harder for a young Awoken to receive a good education. But Gavin passed at the top of his cohort. A talented young guardian, indeed.'

Gavin's eyes went to the Speaker, and he gave a small smirk. 'Most Effective Hunter award. I remember that. Still have the certificate somewhere.'

The Speaker continued. 'Like some guardians, he chose not to stay here at the Tower, but to fight for the Traveller in his own way. I can still sense the Light in him.' There was a hint of pride in the Speaker's voice as he spoke. He was always positive, but he made it very clear when he particularly liked a guardian. Apparently that applied to Gavin.

'So why are you here?' Ryan said.

'Once I heard about the missing guardian, I thought I could be of some help. Also, don't forget that I'm not the only guardian who returned from afar to be a part of this.' He nodded to Jack, who agreed. Ryan's attention shifted between the two, before deciding he was satisfied with the answer.

Now that Gavin had been introduced to the group, the Speaker was ready to let the team go. Each visited their respective Vanguard to receive some words of encouragement and perhaps some ammo synthesis, before meeting out at the front of the Tower Watch to embark on their journey.

Every time Ryan stood at this spot, ready to undertake a new mission, he always made a point to look down at the Last City and consider all of those who he was doing his best to protect. All the children who would one day grow up and follow his footsteps. Every time he was reminded that almost everyone down there knew his name, he would shake it off. There was no way every resident of the Last City knew who he was. And yet, he would always make sure he thought of them all every time he left the Tower.

Geoff, on the other hand, looked over the railing feeling slightly sick. It had been years since he'd broken orbit, and flashbacks were making him feel very unsure about doing it again. He grabbed the necklace that sat tucked just under the top of his chest piece to try and bring down the anxiety. But really, it just seemed to focus his thoughts more. The only thing that brought him out of the vortex of shitty thoughts was Jack's hand on his shoulder.

'You okay?' he said, sensing that his old teacher wasn't feeling right. Geoff tore his eyes away from the Last City below and looked at Jack.

'You know what's wrong,' he said, sounding defeated.

'I know. But you have to try not to think about it. I know that's a bit of a dick thing to say, because it's not that easy. But that's all in the past now, Geoff. This is a new day, a new mission. And you really think anything like that's gonna happen again to us?' He gave a gentle laugh, being sure to not make Geoff feel like it was him who was being laughed at. 'You've got that with you,' Jack pointed at the necklace that Geoff was still clutching. 'Now stop thinking about it.'

He turned away to return to Ryan, Michael and Gavin, leaving Geoff to gather himself up and follow. Suddenly Geoff felt a lot more grateful that he was working with his old student again. It had been so long since he had – he didn't even know what Jack could do any more. But one thing was for sure, and that was that Jack still knew and understood Geoff very well. What more could you possibly ask for from your fireteam?

'So you're a Striker?' Jack heard Ryan say to Michael as he caught back up with the group.

'Yeah,' Michael said, summoning a little bit of arc power that hummed and flickered around his hand. Ryan was impressed with the control Michael had over it. 'I'm all about the attack,' he said, allowing the arc to expand before pulling it right back in to nothing. He couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride when he saw the look on Ryan's face.

'That was so cool,' Ryan said. 'I'm pretty sure if I tried to do that right now, I'd just make a bubble. And here in the Tower, that would be pretty useless.'

'Bubbles are cool though! When I was a kid, people told me about your void powers. I nearly continued on as a Defender just because you were one,' Michael said. He suddenly felt a bit lame that he'd admitted that to Ryan; he was supposed to be a co-worker, a team mate now. He wasn't supposed to still be a fan.

'Ooh, really?' Ryan sounded apologetic. 'If people are choosing their subclasses because of me then they're really mixing their priorities.'

'Are you fucking kidding me?' Michael gave Ryan an incredulous look, but Ryan looked sincere. This was so bizarre. Michael had grown up looking up to Ryan, and all his friends (well, kids he knew) had done too. He really couldn't tell if Ryan was just being modest, or if he really couldn't believe that there were people out there who chose their subclasses based on his.

He smiled to himself. For so long, people had constantly asked Michael if he'd been trained under Ryan, if he'd ever worked with him, if they knew each other. And as wonderful a compliment those comments were, they were a constant reminder to Michael that he actually never had known his idol, and he probably never will. He didn't even think Ryan knew who he was. But now they were talking, and Ryan was treating him exactly like an equal. It was such a strange feeling to Michael. He'd grown up being treated sub-human by almost everyone he came into contact with. As soon as someone caught the blue glow of his skin, he suddenly wasn't good enough. Not only was Ryan treating him as an equal guardian, but an equal person as well.

'So,' came a voice cutting through the conversations that were currently in session. Gavin had got everyone's attention. 'Who's ready to head to orbit, then?'

Geoff had just come back over to the group, but was the first to nod and agree that he was ready. He didn't want to hang around all day thinking about things that were just going to bring him down. He was ready to go.

The others agreed, and they all made their way to the railings to call their ships and be on their way. Five gleaming ships awaited proudly for their owners to climb inside and traverse the solar system. People had begun to gather across the Tower Watch to witness the team of legends leave to embark on their mission.

'First stop: Old Russia, Earth. Land your ships at the Steppes,' Gavin said, pulling the guardians in before letting them all go off to their ships. Why it was Gavin telling them this and not the Speaker, the other four didn't know. But if the speaker trusted Gavin's judgement, then they all might as well too.

'Good luck, guardians,' Geoff said, sounding cynical but being genuine. They all stepped away from each other, all preparing to go to orbit. The sight was magnificent: five legendary ships lining the edge of the Tower, the magnificent form of the Traveller looming over them.

The guardians climbed into their ships, and one by one they pulled away, ready to break orbit. The crowd watched with awe as each of them left. The fifth and final ship pulled away, and that was it. Things were real now. The rescue mission was in motion.

 


End file.
